It's QKR Monday . . .

. . . and the kids are back in school, the temperatures are starting to cool down a bit, humidity seems to be less-- all signs of Fall! I love the warm days and cool evenings of Fall!! Today's card is Fall-themed . . . I used the Pumpkin Stack (#12910) stamp from QKR Stampede for this card.

Aren't these pumpkins adorable? The image reminds me of the song learned in elementary school about the "five little pumpkins sitting by the gate, the first one said . . ."  As is my usual practice, the image was stamped using Ancient Page Coal Black waterproof dye ink and colored with my Prismacolor watercolor pencils and blender pen. The pumpkin brads and decorative paper were found at my local craft store. DESIGN TEAM CALL REMINDER:  Tomorrow, August 31, is the last day to submit your application to be on the next QKR Stampede Design Team. For complete information and details, go HERE. As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit today! Have a GREAT day!!

For You

Today's card uses the Mojo Monday sketch (MOJO144) found here. For this card, I used the Close As A Memory and Happy Everything stamp sets by Stampin' Up! The floral image was colored with markers, lightly misted with water to create a watercolor effect and stamped onto the card stock.

Here is the sketch:

This was a quick, easy layout -- the most difficult part was the ruffled ribbon (more time consuming than difficult)!! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great day!!

Celebrate!

It's Friday!!! Today's card is one for celebrating--Father's Day:

This card was stamped using stamp images from the following sets by Stampin' Up!: Canvas, Up In The Air, and Lexicon of Love. The Canvas background was stamped onto the blue paper, which was then overstamped with the Up In The Air images. A portion of the bottom of the blue piece was torn off, wrapped with white and navy twine, then layered onto the tan card base. The "pattern" along the bottom of the tan card base was created using the direct-to-paper technique with an ink pad. The focal image was stamped with a waterproof dye ink and colored with watercolor crayons and a blender pen, then adhered to the card with foam dots. The word "celebrate" was colored with a black marker and stamped onto the card base. Thanks, again, for stopping by today and having a visit! Have a wonderful day!!

Fly Me To The Moon

Be sure to read to the end of today's post for a QKR Stampede announcement! Today's card was created using stamp images from QKR Stampede -- Rocket Dog (#12404) and To The Moon (#11801).

The technique for this card is a bleaching technique. First, stamp your image with VersaMark (or other embossing ink) and heat emboss on card stock (any card stock, but dark card stock provides the most stunning effects). I embossed with a detail black embossing powder. After the embossed image has cooled, apply bleach to the image, being careful not to go outside the embossed lines. I use an inexpensive aqua painter watercolor brush that I got at my local craft store that is used only for bleach. Allow the bleached piece to dry (the drying process can be sped up with a heat gun). I usually allow the piece to dry completely, then bleach a second time to make sure the pigment is removed from the card stock. After the image has dried, color as you desire. I colored this image with Prisma watercolor pencils and a blender pen, but you can use chalks, markers, inks . . . whatever you desire. Flowers and butterflies are especially fabulous when done using this technique.

Here is a close-up of Rocket Dog:

ANNOUNCEMENT: Mark your calendars for the June QKR Stampede Blog Hop this Friday, June 11. This month's Blog Hop theme covers a variety of topics--Summer, Picnics, Patriotic. Wow!!! Imagine the variety of stamp images you will see, as well as the variety of project ideas. If you haven't already, go to QKR Stampede, peruse through the many images, make note of some of your favorites and look for them on the Blog Hop. As I have done before, I will have sneak peeks of my projects this Wednesday and Thursday. As always, thanks for stopping by today and having a look! Have a GREAT day!!

Quick Little Update

I have been MIA this week for a couple of reasons . . . (1) my 91-year-old grandmother passed away, and (2) my modem died and I could not access the internet until I got a replacement . . . all in the last 6 days. I have many family members coming from out of state for the memorial services and have been helping my Uncle put together a collection of photographs for memory/story boards about my grandmother's life. Just a brief little tidbit--my grandparents and their two oldest children (one of whom is my Dad) had to flee Czechoslovakia after WWII and were political refugees. They were in an American-sponsored work camp in Germany for three years until they were sponsored to the United States (immigration then was very different than now). Looking through my grandmother's collection of photographs has been very interesting, and was something she often did not share because of the painful memories it conjured up. Overall, my grandmother would say she had a good life, and she was happy to be here. She lived to watch four children grow up and lead successful lives, had 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. This evening, in light of recent events, I will share with you a Sympathy card.

This card was created using the Close As A Memory stamp set by Stampin' Up! The oval was sponged using an acetate template that I made. The flowers in the image were colored with watercolor crayons direct to rubber, spritzed with water, and stamped over the sponged oval. The sentiment was stamped using the good old-fashioned method of inking a stamp and stamping! Thank you for stopping by and visiting! Have a GREAT day!!

Summertime, Summertime . . .

Well, according to the calendar, it isn't quite Summer, but the weather we have been having certainly seems to indicate otherwise! Here is a card using the Classic Convertibles stamp set by Stampin' Up!

I love these fun, vintage images! The images in this stamp set are great for those "manly" cards -- Birthday, Father's Day, Thinking of You, etc. The image was stamped, colored in with Prisma watercolor pencils, and blended with a blender pen. A very simple, easy card to put together. Thanks for stopping by and having a look! Have a terrific day!

April Showers . . .

Although the first day of Spring was March 20, it usually takes quite a while for it to actually look and feel like Spring in northeast Ohio. With Spring in mind, and it being the month of April, I couldn't help but think of the old rhyme, "April showers bring May flowers." This card was created using the In the Rain stamp by QKR Stampede. The card base is 5" square; the first (green) layer has double score lines on all four sides. The stamped image was watercolored on a piece of white card stock, and an identically sized piece of white card stock (embossed with the Spots and Dots embossing folder (April showers) and cut with a Nesability scallop circle) was layered over the stamped image with pop dots. White eyelets were used for the flower centers (May flowers), which were attached to punched branches and added to the lower left corner of the card.

A close-up of some of the card details:

I hope you're enjoying Spring! Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Friend

Doesn't this little guy look like he's paddling about looking for his friends? Here is  a card using the Out at Sea stamp image from QKR Stampede. As with the In the Rain stamp image seen here, I have watercolored this image and applied crystal lacquer to the water. "Hello Friend" was cut using the Friends Forever cut and emboss set and my Cuttlebug.

Stay tuned, there's more to come! Thanks for stopping by!

The Next Gene Kelly?

Well, perhaps not, but looking at this little guy, I couldn't help but think of Gene Kelly's dance scene in the musical, Singin' in the Rain. This card was made using the In the Rain stamp from QKR Stampede. This cute little guy decided to don his rain slicker shell and his umbrella, head out into the dark clouds, and walk down the lane . . . singin' in the rain . . . (all that's missing is a lamp post).

The stamped image was watercolored and crystal lacquer was applied to the umbrella and the rain slicker shell to have that "wet from the rain" appearance.

Thanks for stopping by!

Floating Away

I have yet another card to share using stamps from QKR Stampede. This particular stamp image is called Floating Away and although this little guy is on his way to who-knows-where, he doesn't look like he's too concerned. Some of the details: I used my Cuttlebug and Happy Birthday and Swiss Dots embossing folders on each half of a piece of card stock and a piece of ribbon was added for interest (this is one piece of card stock and could have been left without the ribbon). Generic paper flowers and a brad for the flower center were added. The balloons were punched and fine gold thread was tied around each balloon lip, as well as "threaded" through the image as depicted in the original stamp design.

And a close-up of some of the details:

As I said in an earlier post, there will be more to come.  Thanks for stopping by!

Out at Sea

I have been having a blast with my QKR Stampede stamps. The stamps are exceptional quality and the more I peruse the website, the more creative possibilities I see. I must admit, I have put together quite a wish list. This is a card that I created with the stamp Out at Sea. Look at this cute little guy just paddling about in his little "boat", battling the waves! The waves were created using my Cuttlebug and the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder. For the waves, I used just two pieces of 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card stock (one in each shade of blue). After embossing, I cut the first (front) piece, layered the second right behind it and cut, then did the same with the other halves of each piece of card stock. I popped every other set of "waves" using pop dots, sponged the sun and the clouds and tucked this little guy in there. I hope he stays afloat!

There will be more to show later.  Thanks for stopping by!

In the Rain

As you saw the other day, I received my QKR Stampede stamp images on Saturday, trimmed them, and they were ready to stamp. Since I kind of/sort of "featured" this little guy when showing my trimmed stamp images, I am going to show you a card I made with him. The stamps used for this card are In the Rain and Mama Said. As you can see, these images are perfect for coloring and I chose to watercolor him. I added crystal lacquer to the umbrella to give it some dimension and to give it a "wet from the rain" look.

I hope you enjoyed this first project featuring QKR Stampede stamps and will come back soon to see more. Thanks for stopping by!